On Aug. 21, there will be a major eclipse event which will cross a good swath of the continental United States. (New Jersey is not the best place to see it from, but we’ll still get a nice glimpse). Right on cue, dire warnings about what this “means” are rattling around social media.

An eclipse of the type we are about to experience occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. It temporarily appears to blot out the sun and cast a shadow upon the earth. These events are not a mystery. And because of the laws of celestial mechanics are in fact quite easily predictable (the next such one will be on July 2, 2019).

Some fundamentalist preachers and astrologers alike have been making worrisome predictions about how the world, and particularly the United States, will suffer because of it. Everything from geological cataclysms to political upheaval will result.

It seems to have special portent for the president, though the preachers are a little fuzzy as to whether it will be a good or bad thing for him. For the rest of us, the prophets are saying, you better get right with God, fate, the planets or something in order to prepare for your particular comeuppance. Oh, and don’t schedule getting any tooth fillings during the eclipse because the sun and gold are connected so there could be problems. I did not make that up.

As with most prognosticators, the ones talking about the eclipse never mention all those previous times they told us the end was nigh when it was not. End of Days prophets have a worse win record than the old Jersey Generals.

Throughout the human experience, eclipses have held a particular fascination. During the Middle Ages, and the Early Modern period celestial occurrences such as eclipses, meteors and comets were often called “monsters” because they were thought to presage terrible events. Any political upheaval or the birth of a two-headed child were put down to the result of the eclipse. This was God’s way of showing people they were not behaving properly.

It would be refreshing to have to have a soothsayer claim an eclipse will bring peace and prosperity. It seems the “Age of Aquarius” didn’t work out the way we had hoped. Unfortunately, predictions of good times don’t fill the collection plates or sell guns, the way gloom and doom can.

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Experts are warning people about counterfeit eclipse glasses.

All the worry about the eclipse is wasted. This, or any, eclipse will not do anything to you, our country or our world. There will be no “Day of the Triffids” mass blindness. It will not bring on any catastrophes, will not cause the poles to shift, or make “The Emoji Movie” any less horrible. The political shenanigans we are experiencing are damaging this country far more than any eclipse ever could. Or maybe, the worry about the eclipse is a manifestation of our anxiety over the current political situation: about the threat of nuclear annihilation and the rantings of out-of-control national leaders.

As Cassius warned, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves!” There’s nothing we can do about this eclipse. The current political situation, however, is a result of humans and can have genuinely dire consequences. And that is something we have to deal with.

Having said that, take a break from all the worry. Sit back, relax and enjoy the eclipse. It is one of those things that let you know you’re part of an amazing and awe-inspiring universe. Then go to bed and rest assured that if the world ends during the night, it will not be the result of the moon passing between the earth and the sun.

Brian Regal teaches the history of Science, Technology, and Medicine at Kean University. He has experienced a number of eclipses and comets and lived to tell the tale.